Posted on 12/03/2007 11:06:43 AM PST by Bulldawg Fan
Les Miles didn’t need to go to Michigan for a chance to coach a team to victory against Ohio State, Michigan’s archrival. The LSU Tigers, to whom Miles reaffirmed his commitment over the weekend, will play Ohio State for the BCS national championship.
LSU (11-2) climbed five spots Sunday to No. 2 in the USA Today Top 25 Coaches’ Poll, enabling the Tigers to make the same jump in the BCS standings to set up a Jan. 7 date with the No. 1-ranked Buckeyes (11-1) in the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans.
“This is the most astonishing 36 or 48 or 72 hours I think I’ve ever seen in athletics,” said LSU Athletic Director Skip Bertman, who has 45 years in coaching and administration.
“Of course, it turned out to be magnificent for LSU. Not only did we get the coach, but we get the chance at the national championship in the same weekend, and of course, going in, we didn’t know either one of those things.”
Miles, a former Michigan player and assistant coach, walked away from a possible offer to coach at his alma mater when he announced Saturday he would stay at LSU.
A few hours later the Tigers defeated Tennessee 21-14 in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game, keeping slim hopes alive for a shot at a bigger prize.
When No. 2-ranked West Virginia lost 13-9 to huge underdog Pittsburgh and No. 1-ranked Missouri lost 38-17 to Oklahoma later that night, LSU’s long-shot possibility — described a week earlier by BCS experts — was no longer a desperate daydream.
LSU sports information director Michael Bonnette stayed up until 3 a.m. Sunday, e-mailing the 60 coaches who vote in the USA Today poll and as many Harris Interactive voters as possible. He set forth the case for LSU to be in the championship game. Miles made appearances on national TV after sunrise, doing the same.
By early Sunday afternoon, LSU was No. 2 in the USA Today poll. The Tigers, who did not receive a first-place vote in last week’s Top 25, received 11 this week.
LSU’s move ahead of Missouri and West Virginia, plus Georgia, Kansas and Virginia Tech, was a promising sign that the Tigers would be in the top two when the BCS standings were announced Sunday night.
“It was done at that point,” said Brad Edwards of ESPN, a BCS analyst who spelled out LSU’s long-shot hopes the previous weekend.
A jump from No. 5 to No. 2 in the Harris poll followed the larger jump by the Tigers in the USA Today poll Sunday. Those polls and an average of six BCS computer rankings are equal parts of the BCS formula.
“The only surprise to me was that LSU was such a comfortable No. 2 in both polls,” Edwards said. “I obviously expected them to be in that position, but I thought there would be a lot more support for all the different contenders out there.”
LSU finished No. 2 in the computers, trailing Virginia Tech. The Buckeyes moved from No. 3 in the BCS to No. 1 largely on the strength of a majority of first-place votes in the polls.
“I knew that LSU had the computer advantage on Oklahoma and USC,” Edwards said, citing schedule strength and quality victories as key components. “In my mind it was only a matter of whether a team like Virginia Tech might be able to be ranked ahead of LSU.” Edwards said when he saw LSU’s margin in the USA Today poll — and that Oklahoma, not Virginia Tech, was No. 3 in that poll — he knew the Tigers were a lock for No. 2 in the BCS standings.
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel voted his team No. 1 and LSU No. 2.
Miles voted LSU No. 1 and Ohio State No. 2.
Hawaii gets the BOHICA bowl for teams not in ‘bcs conferences’
You would wine too if every team in your conference deserved to be in the top 10... /sarc
As I've pointed out repeatedly before (and to which no one has a reply), if winning National Championships is the be all, end all in college football, explain to me why Lloyd Carr was run out of town in Ann Arbor.
ping...
“I would venture that Oklahoma, USC or Georgia would smash either, particularly a weak LSU team that needed a desperation interception at the end of the game Saturday evening vs Tennessee to clinch that win.”
I agree. I think this year is the best example yet of why there should be playoffs.
BTW, no offense to Illinois, but I believe the real reason that Georgia was not chosen for the Rose Bowl was because that game would upstage the “championship” game. The BCS is a joke.
While I think the Wahoos are a good team...they aren't worthy of the Top 10...let alone the number one spot.
The only reason GA beat the Gators is that Tebow was injured.
ROTFLMAO
megabump
A weak LSU that beat Tenn and has a month to recouperate before smashing OSU.
Desperation interception.. LOL It was the interception of a bad pass. That’s called defense.
1. Beat Ohio State.
2. Win the Big Ten.
3. Win a bowl game, preferably the Rose Bowl.
Another excellent point. It seemed like almost every national title game in the 1980s involved Penn State, Miami, or both!
Once you get past the national championship game, you have a lot of bowl selections that are based primarily on economic considerations. Big 10 vs. Pac-10 has a lot of drawing power in the Rose Bowl, and an SEC team like Georgia will draw well in the Sugar Bowl. Even though a Rose Bowl contest between USC and Georgia would generate a good TV audience, there’s a decent possibility that the game wouldn’t even be a sellout.
Speaking as a Trojan fan I firmly believe that:
1) USC, if they play as they are capable, would beat either LSU or Ohio State.
2) The Champion has to be judged on the whole season, not just on who is hot now. Based on that, USC does not deserve to be in the Championship game.
3) This is the craziest season we have all seen in a long time.
Comiung in late here but LSU and Ohio state are the two teams I’d bet on in a head to head match up with anyone else so that, from my perspective makes them the two best teams and thus the teams that should be in the championship game.
But I’d prefer we just went back to the bowls - I liked the debate better.
“Once you get past the national championship game, you have a lot of bowl selections that are based primarily on economic considerations.”
Okay. Then perhaps the real reason for choosing Illinois over Georgia is that Chicago has a much bigger TV audience than Atlanta. But whatever the reason, the BCS is fixed and cheats the fans who want to know who the best team really is.
BTW, I very much doubt that a Rose Bowl game between USC and Georgia wouldn’t be a sellout. I think it would be a surer sellout than Illinois/USC.
There has been a true Division 1 National Champion for football. You don't become a champion of a sport via an election; you do it on the field/court/ice. Until the NCAA learns this, there will never be a Division 1 National Champion for football.
They won’t be undefeated after the Sugar bowl. It is going to be ugly. UGA and Richt learned their lesson after overlooking West Virginia a few years ago. Hawaii is going to be medicine for what sickens them.
I guess we won’t know until next year. However, I think you are wrong. UGA had Cryer’s number this year.
I wouldn’t say every team, but Georgia, Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Kentucky, Auburn, Arkansas and possibly even Vanderbilt, yes.
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